Car door



F. DITCHFIELD June 30, 1942.

cm noon File June 7; 194 0 a //v VE/V roe FPHIVK BITCH/761D PatentedJune 3%, 1942 ares 9 Claims.

This invention relates to car doors and more particularly to slidingdoors for railway house cars and to lift mechanism therefor.

It is an object of this invention to provide lift mechanism for slidingcar doors which will not encroach upon the established tunnel clearancesirrespective of width of car and which will accordingly dispense'withthe different types of lift mechanism now utilized and create a standardI lift mechanism.

A further object is to provide lift mechanism for sliding dorscharacterized by substantial simplification of structure, materialreduction in cost, elimination of parts and enhanced ease of elevationand movement of the doors and which will allow the use of a connectingbar subject to tension rather than to compression during elevation ofthe doors.

A further object is to provide lift mechanism employing rollers of adiameter greater than heretofore contemplated or capable of utilizationwhereby the rollers of the lift mechanism are greatly simplified andpermit the use of connecting bars in tension.

A further object is to provide lift mechanism embodying rollers whereinthe pins upon which the rollers are mounted provide the means forelevating the doors.

A further object is to provide roller lift mechanism. for sliding doorsembodying in a unitary member a roller pin, trunnions and a connectingbar attaching arm.

A further object is to provide a novel door structure adapted to receivelift mechanism of the character above set forth whereby the overallwidth between doors on the opposite sides of a caris'so reduced that thedoors may be employed upon railway house cars irrespective of theirwidth and not encroach upon the established tunnel clearances Otherobjects of the invention will become clear as the description thereofproceeds.

In the drawing forming part of this specification: I 1

Fig. 1 is apartial elevation of a sliding lift door embodying theinvention.

Fig. 2 is. a vertical section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. dis an elevation of an integral roller supporting, door elevatingand attaching arm member.

ig, 5 is an end elevation of the member shownin Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawing wherein a preferred embodiment of the inventionis illustrated, the numeral as designates a door for a railway house carembodying 'a'metallic panel ll and horizontal corrugations t2 merging attheir ends into vertical corrugations l3 and M formed adjacent to thevertical edges of the door. The door is suitably reinforced along thevertical margins thereof. The drawing illustrates a substantiallychannel shaped reinforced member If) secured to the front verticalmargin of the door, a reinforcing angle l5 secured to the rear verticalmargin of the door and a reinforcing angle ll secured to the lowerhorizontal margin of the door The rear vertical margin carriesadditionally a metallic sealing strip l3. j

The construction of the door thus far described with the exceptionhereinafter pointed out relatlve to the bottom reinforcing angle ll iswell known. It is to be understood, however, that this construction isutilized for purposes of illustration only and that a door having a fiatmetallic panel reinforced in any desired way may be utilized insofar asthe instant invention is concerned.

Departure from the known construction of the. door it is illustratedmore particularly in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawing. Adjacent eachlower corner of the door the metallic panel is offset out- I wardly fromthe main plane thereof as indicated at l3 and 29 for a reason which willhereinafter appear. Below theseoifset portions the metallic panel isagain offset outwardly to a greater extent as indicated at 2| and 22. Afurther olfsetting of the metallic panel to a greater extent occurs at23 and 25. There is thus provided in effect a stepped formation by meansof which provision is made, as hereinafterpmore fully explained, for thereception of rollers with a minimum extension of thedoor outwardly fromits main plane.

Reinforcing plates of substantially the width of the offset portions l9andtll are utilized to reinforce the door. The, outermost of theseplates 25 is shaped to conform to the contour of the offsets provided inthe door panel and the innere most plate 25 is disposed so as to liesubstantially in the main plane of the panel. The reinforcing plates 25and 26 are overlapped and secured together and to the ofiset portions l9and 20 of the panel as by means of rivets. From this point of:securement the outer plate 25' extends downwardly and at its lowermargin is offset inwardly.

as indicated at 21 to conform to the inwardly off set marginal portion23- of the metallic panel.

These portions are secured as by means of riveting to a depending flange29 formed by bending the horizontal leg 30 of the bottom reinforcingangle H. The inner plate 26 extends downwardly and is secured to theupstanding leg 3| of the bottom reinforcing angle preferably by means ofwelding.

The portions of the panel which are offset outwardly are furtherreinforced by means of metallic plates 32 and 33 which as illustratedhave one margin disposed between metallic backing plates 34 and 35 andthe metallic panel and are secured to these parts as by means ofriveting. A metallic backing plate 36 extends between the reinforcingplates 32 and 33 and is secured to the metallic panel and the upstandingleg 3| of the bottom reinforcing angle I! for further stiffening thelower portion of the door.

The door is adapted to be supported upon a track 31 provided with anouter vertical depending flange 39. The depending leg 29 of the bottomreinforcing angle [1 is obtained by bending the horizontal leg 35 upon arelatively large radius as indicated at 39 so that when the door is inlowered and closed position the depending leg 29 will lie in closelyproximate relationship to the depending flange 38 of the track andthereby materially improve the Weather condition at the bottom edge ofthe door and reduce the projection of the door from the car.

The inwardly ofiset lower marginal portions of the panel I I and thereinforcing plate 25 are offset outwardly as indicated at 40 and 4| toprovide for the reception of the attaching flanges 42 and 43 of hookshaped members 44 and 45 adapted to cooperate with the depending flange38 of the track to guide and retain the door upon the track.

The lift and supporting mechanism for the door embodies rollers 46 and41 which are disposed between the inner and outer reinforcing plates 25and 25. Each of these rollers is of a size greater than any rollersheretofore contemplated or utilized upon sliding car doors and theconstruction of the door hereinabove described is devised to adapt it tothe employment of such large rollers. The lift mechanism illustrated isdesigned to secure approximately elevation of the door and to utilizerollers 12 in diameter. The ease of door operation inherent in largerollers makes possible the elimination of the costly roller or ballbearings heretofore utilized and substitution therefor of inexpensivebushings 48. The wear upon these bushings will be much less than thewear upon the formerly utilized ball or roller bearings inasmuch as thesize of the roller reduces the number of revolutions they are requiredto make in order to move the door to open position. The wear on thebushings is accordingly reduced to about 25% of the wear on the rollerbearings employed with rollers of smaller diameter which in the case ofrollers for sliding car doors have not heretofore exceeded 3 A2" indiameter.

Each of the rollers embodies a hub 49, a web 50 and a rim The web andrim are inset relative to the hub as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing.Each roller is adapted to be rotatably supported upon a pin 52.Eccentrically related trunnions 53 and 54 extend from the pin 52 andare. journalled in the reinforcing plates 25 and 26 and 32 and 33 asmore clearly indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The reinforcing plate25 may in turn be strengthened by means of a small plate 55 whichprovides additionally a larger bearing for the trunnion 53. An actuatinglever 56 is mounted upon one of the trunnions 53. An arm 51 extends fromthe pin 52 and at its outer end the arm is provided with a stud 53. Aconnecting bar 59 is mounted upon the studs 58.

As more clearly appears from Fig. 1 of the drawing, the arms 51 extenddownwardly from the pins 52 so that as will hereinafter appear theconnecting bar 59 will be subjected to tension rather than compressionupon elevation of the door. It is to be observed, moreover, that thestuds 58 on the arms 51 are directed inwardly, space for this purposebeing provided by the inward offsetting of the web 50 of each of therollers. Room is thereby conserved so that the actuating lever 56 liescloser to the car and does not encroach upon the established tunnelclearances.

By virtue of the described construction, the overall width between doorson opposite sides of a railway house car has been so reduced that thedoor and mechanism illustrated can be utilized upon all carsirrespective of their width. A single standard door and lift mechanismis thereby created.

In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing the door is illustrated in its loweredposition in which frictional support is established by the engagement ofthe lower horizontal leg 30 of the bottom reinforcing angle and thetrack 31. A downward pull upon the actuating lever 53 in a clockwisedirection will impart rotation to one of the roller pins 52 and throughthe connecting bar 59 and the arms 51 similar rotation to the otherroller pin 52. Since the arms 51 move in a clockwise direction it willbe apparent that the connecting bar 59 is subjected to tension and notto compression.

Inasmuch as the trunnions 53 and 54 are eccentrically related to thepins 52 rotation of these pins will produce an upward component ofmovement of the trunnions and since these are journalled in the doorwill effect elevation of the door and support of the door upon therollers. The door may then easily be moved in opening or closingdirection.

It will be apparent that the roller pin, trunnions and arms can befabricated in a single member and that the lift mechanism is animprovement upon the patent to Ditchfield, #2,103,000.

Numerous changes and modifications in the details of the invention willbe clear to those skilled in the art. It is intended, therefore, thatall such modifications and changes be comprehended Within this inventionwhich is to be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. Lifting and supporting mechanism for a sliding door comprising spacedrollers, the web and rim of each roller being offset inwardly of theouter face of the hub of said roller, a pin for rotatably mounting eachroller, eccentrically positioned trunnions extending from each pin, saidtrunnions being adapted to be journalled in said door, an arm extendingfrom each pin, a bar connecting said arms, means extending from saidarms toward said offset web for securing said bar to said arms, saidrollers being of a size to permit full swinging movement of said armsduring elevation of said door and means for effecting rotation of saidpins to elevate and support said door upon said rollers.

2. Lifting and supporting mechanism for a sliding door comprising spacedrollers adapted to be positioned adjacent to the forward and rear edgesof said door, the Web and rim of each roller being offset inwardly ofthe outer face of the hub of said roller, a pin for rotatably mountingeach roller, eccentrically positioned trunnions extending from each pin,said trunnions being adapted to be journalled in said door, an armextending downwardly from each pin, a bar connecting said arms, meansextending from said arms toward said ofiset in said rollers for securingsaid bar to said arms, said rollers being of a size to permit fullswinging movement of said arms during elevation of said door and anactuating lever mounted upon the outer trunnion of the forward pin,clockwise actuation of said lever to elevate said door placing saidconnecting bar in tension.

3. Lifting and supporting mechanism for a sliding door comprising spacedrollers, each of said rollers consisting of an integral hub, web andrim, a cylindrical pin for rotatably mounting each of said rollers,cylindrical trunnions integral with and smaller than said pins extendingin opposite directions from the ends of said pins, said trunnions lyingwithin the periphery of said pins, the axes of said trunnions and pinslying in vertical planes which are horizontally offset, said trunnionsbeing adapted to be journalled in said door, an arm extending from eachpin, means connecting said arms and an actuating lever mounted upon oneof said trunnions.

4. Lifting and supporting mechanism for a sliding door comprising spacedrollers, each of said rollers consisting of an integral hub, web andrim, a cylindrical pin for rotatably mounting each of said rollers,cylindrical trunnions integral with and smaller than said pins extendingin opposite directions from the ends of said pins, said trunnions lyingwithin and being tangent to the periphery of said pins, the axes of saidtrunnions and pins lying in vertical planes which are horizontallyoffset, said trunnions being adapted to be journalled in said door, anarm extending from each pin, means connecting said arms and an actuatinglever mounted upon one of said trunnions.

5. Lifting and supporting mechanism for a sliding door comprising spacedrollers, each of said rollers consisting of an integral hub, web andrim, a cylindrical pin for rotatably mounting each of said rollers,cylindrical trunnions integral with and smaller than said pins extendingin opposite directions from the ends of said pins, said trunnions lyingwithin the periphery of said pins, the axes of said trunnions and pinslying in vertical planes which are horizontally offset, said trunnionsbeing adapted to be journalled in said door, an arm integral with andextending from the periphery of each pin, means connecting said arms andan actuating lever mounted upon one of said trunnions.

6. Lifting and supporting mechanism for a sliding door comprising spacedrollrs, each of said rollers consisting of an integral hub, web and rim,a cylindrical pin for rotatably mounting each of said rollers,cylindrical trunnions integral with and smaller than said pins extendingin opposite directions from the ends of said pins, said trunnions lyingwithin and being tangent to the periphery of said pins, the axes of saidtrunnions and pins lying in vertical planes which are horizontallyoffset, said trunnions being adapted to be journalled in said door, anarm integral with and extending from themriphery of each pin, meansconnecting said arms and an actuating lever mounted upon one of saidtrunnions.

7. Lifting and sup-porting mechanism for a sliding door comprisingspaced rollers, each of said rollers consisting of an integral hub, web

and rim, a cylindrical pin for rotatably mounting each of said rollers,the radial distance from the hub to the rim of said rollers beingsubstantially greater than the radius of said pins, bushings betweensaid pins and said rollers, cylindrical trunnions integral with andsmaller than said pins extending in opposite directions from the ends ofsaid pins, said trunnions lying within the periphery of said pins, theaxes of said trunnions and pins lying in vertical planes which arehorizontally offset, said trunnions being adapted to be journalled insaid door, an arm extending from each pin, means connecting said armsand an actuating lever mounted upon one of said trunnions.

8. Lifting and suppporting mechanism for a sliding door comprisingspaced rollers, each of said rollers consisting of an integral hub, web,

and rim, a cylindrical pin for rotatably mounting each of said rollers,the radial distance from the hub to the rim of said rollers beingsubstantially greater than the radius of said pins,

bushings between said pins and said rollers, cylindrical trunnionintegral with and smaller than said pins extending in oppositedirections from the ends of said pins, said trunnions lying within theperiphery of said pins, the axes of said trunnions and pins lying invertical planes which are horizontally offset, said trunnions beingadapted to be journalled in said door, an arm integral with andextending from the periphery of each pin, means connecting said arms andan actuating lever mounted upon one of said trunnions.

9. Lifting and supporting mechanism for a sliding door comprising spacedrollers, each of said rollers consisting of an integral hub, web andrim, a, cylindrical pin for rotatably mounting each of said rollers, theradial distance from the hub to the rim of said rollers beingsubstantially greater than the radius of said pins,

bushings between said pins and said rollers, cylindrical trunnionsintegral with and smaller than said pins extending in oppositedirections from the ends of said pins, said trunnions lying within andbeing tangent to the periphery of said pins, the axes of said trunnionsand pins lying in vertical planes which are horizontally offset, saidtrunnions being adapted to be journalled in said door, an arm integralwith and extending from the periphery of each pin, means connecting saidarms and an actuating lever mounted upon one of said trunnions.

' FRANK DITCHFIELD.

w CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION. Patent m 2,28 ,1 June 50, 19m.

FRANK DI'ICHFIELD.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specificationof the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 5,first column, line 12, for "in said rollers" read --web--; and that thesaid Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that thev same nay conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 25th day of August, A. D. 1942.

. Henry Van Arsdale,

(Seal) A'cting Commissioner of,Patents.

